Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News
People watch from a yard as the Hillcrest Neighborhood Parade makes its way down Bacon Street on Thursday.

Tommy Metthe/Abilene Reporter-News

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News
Kids ride in a float down Bacon Street during the 17th annual Hillcrest Neighborhood Parade on Thursday.$RETURN$$RETURN$

Tommy Metthe/Abilene Reporter-News

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News
Parade participants line up for the start of the 17th annual Hillcrest Neighborhood Parade on Thursday.

Tommy Metthe/Abilene Reporter-News

The grand marshal of the annual July 4th Hillcrest Neighborhood Parade slept right thorough the celebration.

Hutton Haught, 10 days old, rode in the back of a pickup with his parents, Shane and Jordana Haught, as more than 300 participants and about 700 spectators waved and cheered him on.

By the time Hutton’s parents brought him inside Hillcrest Church of Christ for cake and cookies after the parade, Hutton was wide awake and smiling as people came by to congratulate him.

“We are honored for our son,” Jordana Haught said.

“It is something we will always remember,” said his father, a new Abilene firefighter. “It will be nice to look back at the pictures when he is older.”

The parade featured bikes, antique cars, motorcycles, baby carriages, and lots of children leading dogs and even a goat.

The program began with a prayer, patriotic songs and a pledge to the flag. Then Eagle Scout Jesse Coates, 18, and fellow Scouts from Texas Trails Council 201 led the parade with a large Hillcrest Neighborhood banner.

“We started this event 17 years ago so our children in the neighborhood could enjoy a parade,” Liz Rotenberry, a parade organizer, said. “We had about 50 kids and about the same number of spectators that first year.”

“This is a wonderful day to celebrate our freedom,” Tiffany Beatty, of College Station, said as she got her children Caroline, 5, and Colton, 3, in line to march in the parade.

Hillcrest residents Ramona Fagan, 82 and her husband, Gayle, 79, have seen every parade from the beginning while sitting in their front yard.

““This parade really brings people together,” Ramona Fagan said as she snapped photos.

“It is a great activity for the kids,” Gayle Fagan added. “We really like to see the children enjoy themselves.”